Barney's food pantry has grown beyond his garage

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Friday, February 12, 2021
Man's free food pantry grows beyond his garage
They received so many donations from the public, the house can no longer accommodate them, forcing the neighborhood resource to have to expand.

Barney Corrigan's food pantry has grown so large that he's running out of space to keep it going.



"Little by little, it's just outgrown our house," he said. "It crept into our living room and now it's in our dining room, and we're in desperate need of a building."



Barney, his wife, and their four children live each day among scattered boxes of canned goods, produce, and personal products.



While donations are still coming from across the country, their house is not prepared to store it properly. Certain products are unfortunately tossed due to lack of space or expiration.



"We started getting stress, like, fractures in our walls and it went across the ceiling and I was like, that's it," said Barney.



He decided to begin living outside in his mobile pantry as a challenge to acquire donations.



"I got the OK from the wife," he joked.



For 22 hours each day, Barney will be braving the confines of a cold truck with little more than a blanket and a small heater.



His community of more than 4,000 Facebook followers are pledging hourly or daily donations as low as 10 cents.



"I'm not leaving until we have a building," he said. "Either we raise enough money or, you know, we find someone that has a building in this area that's willing to donate to us."